1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for detecting a vehicle and, more specifically, to a system and method for detecting a vehicle, which can generate a vehicle candidate group presumed as a vehicle even when one of a side surface or bottom surface of the vehicle is not detected, thereby more precisely detecting a preceding vehicle so as to secure a driver's safety.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, systems, which can implement various functions by recognizing vehicles in front of or behind a driver's vehicle, have been installed in vehicles one after another. The above-described systems may display images of preceding and following vehicles, as they are, to a driver or may process the images to provide particular information to the driver.
A forward collision warning system among these systems may detect the preceding vehicle by using a radar for detecting a vehicle and a camera for outputting an image of the vehicle, thereby giving a warning to the driver or automatically applying the brake according to the possibility of a collision so as to prevent a collision between the driver's vehicle and the preceding vehicle.
Recently, thanks to the simplification of a system structure and the reduction of production cost, a vehicle recognition method, which can recognize a vehicle by using an image photographed by a camera without using peripheral devices such as radar, has been increasingly required.
As described above, when a preceding vehicle is detected by using an image photographed by a camera, the result of vehicle recognition may vary according to illumination and weather. For example, when sunlight is intense side light or backlight, a side surface or bottom surface of a preceding vehicle is unclear and thus the preceding vehicle may not be detected. Therefore, the forward collision warning system does not give a warning to a driver or does not automatically apply the brake, and thus may threaten the safety of the driver.